Apple to top 50M iPhone sales in holiday quarter – analyst

Apple could post record iPhone and iPad sales for the holiday quarter when it reports numbers later this month.

According to AppleInsider, Rob Cihra of Evercore Partners expects iPhone sales to top 50 million for the first time in Apple’s December quarter, with iPad shipments coming in at 24 million.

The forecast smartphone sales, boosted by the launch of the iPhone 5 in September, would mark a 35 percent year-on-year increase and up 86 percent on the previous quarter.

The iPhone 5 had launched in 100 markets by year-end, making it “the fastest iPhone rollout ever,” according to Apple. It clocked up 2 million iPhone 5 sales in China alone in the first weekend of availability in the world’s largest mobile market.

But Cihra predicts “production cuts” in the current (end-March) quarter, forecasting iPhone sales of 39 million units in the period.

Meanwhile, holiday iPad sales are expected to be up 71 percent from the previous quarter – a period that saw Apple shift just 14 million tablets as consumers appeared to wait for newer models to come to market.

Apple launched a new fourth-generation iPad in October – just six months after its predecessor – alongside a new, cheaper ‘iPad mini.’ Cihra believes the iPad mini accounted for 10 million units during the quarter.